Same Word, Different Meaning
by Sphinxie
Summary: Reid meets a girl with an addiction, not unlike his own. OneShot. Some Swearing.


**This is just a little something that popped into my head, I'm fairly sure I could have made it longer, but, I didn't know where to add on. So I didn't bother. Anyways, it's just a little one-shot of Reid meeting a girl with an addiction similar to his own. Hope you enjoy ;**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the character known as 'the girl'.**

Reid Garwin stood on the front steps of the dorms of Spenser Academy, a dark scowl etched on his features. Once again, he was waiting, in the _lovely _December cold for his companion, Tyler Sims. Mentally kicking himself for not having a vehicle of his own, Reid drummed his fingers on his worn out jeans.

"Figures," he grumbled sullenly. "The one day I'm actually on time for something, Tyler chooses to be late, oh, how Lady Luck does shine." Shivering, he glanced around, finding no one, his eyes went black, and he felt his clothes begin to radiate heat; of course, heating his clothes may not have been needed, seeing as Tyler would drive up at any second, but any excuse to Use was good enough for him.

Chuckling at his own genius, he failed to notice a figure standing on the far side of the stairs. Suddenly snapped out of his mental ego-boosting session by the sound of a lighter being used, Reid glanced around. He was disgusted to find a girl at the other end of the stairs lighting a cigarette.

With a sneer, he tried to get as far away from her while still staying on the stairs. No cancer sucking chick was scaring him from his post, not a chance.

As an avid swimmer, Reid was revolted by anything that would mess with his lungs, smoking being number one on his list of 'If-I-were-king-this-would-be-outlawed'. Not that any of this seemed to bother the girl, who was silently taking a drag.

"Uhg," Reid said loud enough to get the girls attention. Raising an eyebrow, the girl exhaled in his direction.

"What?" she growled, "never seen a smoker before?" she chuckled and took yet another drag of her cancer stick.

"No," he said "I've just never seen one up close like this, tell me, what's it like to depend so greatly on something that's basically just going to kill you? 'Cause I'm just _dying_ to know."

She scowled, apparently, this was a tender subject. "Fuck you," she sneered "I'm addicted, so what? I'm gonna die anyways, might as well go out in style." For emphasis, she inhaled again, sticking out her jaw in a rather stubborn manner.

Reid just looked at her, confused. _Addiction? What the hell would _she_ know about addiction, _I_ know about addiction, _Using_ is a fucking addiction, smoking's just fucking gross._ He shook his head and sighed. "I know more about addiction that you ever will, little girl."

A look of rage crossed her face "_you_?" she snarled. "You don't know shit, look, I've tried quitting, I've tried slowing it down, I've tried everything, but it's _so_ hard, you can't ever understand how hard it is to stop, it feels like your insides stop working, you can't go through a day without thinking about when your next smoke will be, it drives you _insane_." She dropped her cigarette, stomping it out, and was now clenching her fists, tears threatening to pour.

Reid was shocked, she'd hit the nail dead on, Using to him, was what smoking was to her. His sympathy went out to her; both were doomed to become slaves to their addictions until the day that it killed them.

It was this opportune moment that Tyler chose to drive up to the building, honking his horn. Pulling up to the stairs, he rolled down his window, oblivious to the current situation, and waved at Reid, trying to make him hurry.

Reid glanced at Tyler and held up his finger in a gesture asking for a minute, much to his friend's displeasure.

"Look," Reid started "I think you should quit if it makes you this unhappy, and if you need help, the name's Reid Garwin, look me up." He grinned, and jogged towards the driver's seat, shoving Tyler over.

Driving away, Reid had to wonder why the girl didn't just quit, I mean, it was killing her, and even if it didn't, in the end, her quality of life would be terrible, why was it so difficult for her to see that?

Tyler Sims frowned at his friend, Reid knew how addicting Using was, why couldn't he just slow it down? How could he not realize that Using so much was killing him, and even if it didn't, his life would be ruined.

**There you have it, folks, my first one-shot, and my first Covenant fic. Hope it wasn't too terrible. Be sure to leave a review.**

**-Sphinxie**


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